Shadows At Dusk
by Fiction101
Summary: It is better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all, unless you are Logan Judith "Jude" Ashby… hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. OC POV
1. P R E F A C E

**_Disclaimer:_ I, Fiction 101, do not own the stories Twilight, New Moon or Eclipse. They are all works of art and I appreciate them, but sadly I have no ownership rights to them.**

**Shadows at Dusk is a story that takes place post New Moon but pre Eclipse, however events from Eclipse will be in this story, so if you have yet to read the third instalment of the Twilight series be prepared for spoilers.**

**_P R E F A C E_**

Love. It's funny how a simple four letter word can be so complex; hold so much wonder. It amazes me that this one word can create so much beauty yet at the same time cause so much chaos; how its very essence can consume someone's every thought; how its presence is something that people are prepared to kill for… something people are prepared to die for, a fact that I did not understand before this moment. Love. It makes people do crazy things.

* * *

**Well that was the Preface of _Shadows at Dusk_, let me know what you think.**

**Cheers,**

**Fiction101**


	2. Chapter One: They

_**Disclaimer:**_ **I Fiction 101 do not own the stories Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse or Breaking Dawn. They are all works of art and I appreciate them, but sadly I have no ownership rights to them.**

**Hi guys, so this is the first chapter of Shadows at Dusk. In case you can't tell this story is post New Moon and pre Eclipse, however, events from Eclipse will be mentioned so if you have yet to read the third instalment of the Twilight series then you may not want to read this story. **

**Oh, before you begin, there is some Italian in this chapter (written in italics) which I hope is right. If it's not and you notice please tell me so I can fix it.**

**One more thing there are various quotes from New Moon Chapter 21: Verdict. I do not take credit for those lines, they were written by Stephenie Meyer.**

**Now that that's all said and done, go ahead, read. **

**_Chapter One: They_**

I knew the city like the back of my hand. I had every nook and cranny committed to memory so it was easy for me to navigate my way through the shadows that the high afternoon sun against the tall buildings had caused in my dark—almost black—cloak—a standard part of the Volturi guard uniform. The cloaks were used not only to conceal our skin but to also show our ranking. The darker an individuals cloak the more superior.

I hastily rounded the corner and without hesitation I jumped down the hole that led to a dimly lit tunnel. I swiftly walked along the uneven path that I had grown accustomed to travelling through over the years. I didn't lessen my pace until I was in the brightly lit hallway where the humans that worked shuffled mindlessly from place to place seeming, oblivious to the feeding frenzy that would be going on not too far away. I could hear my masters chatting; my ears were far more sensitive than any human's. The humans all seemed to stop whatever they were doing to stare (attempting to do so subtly) whenever I or one of my kind walked into a room—a fact that I didn't shy away from as I made my way over to the elevator.

The elevator ride was short; I stepped out into the office area where I was greeted by the familiar sight of the human receptionist—the only human that worked here who was not ignorant to the fact that her bosses were the un-dead—behind the huge mahogany desk. She was pretty for a human; green eyes, and dark skin.

Like clock work she quickly got up from behind the desk to welcome me. "Good afternoon, Jude," she said in her heavily accented voice.

I removed my cloak, tossing it to the human as I spoke, "hey…" We disposed of the receptionists so often that it became futile to learn their names.

She looked as if she were about to say something else—probably her name—but was interrupted when the elevator doors opened again.

She smiled politely in welcome again. "Good afternoon, Jane."

The tiny brunette nodded in response as she led a group that consisted of two members of the Volturi guard: Felix and Demetri along with three others: two vampires—one being a tall male with bronze hair the other a petite female with dark hair—with the strangest eye colour I'd ever seen and a scruffy looking human girl past."Gianna," Jane called over her shoulder. Ah—so her name was Gianna.

I grabbed Felix's trunk of an arm before he could walk by me, "Felix, what's going on?"

"_Bella,_ I didn't see you standing there," he said before he bent down—and considering that I'm about a foot and a half shorter than him he had to bend quite a bit—to kiss me on both cheeks. "Welcome back, _mio amore_. How was France, did you buy anything pretty to model for me?" he asked eyeing my various shopping bags.

"Cut the crap, Felix. Who are those people?" I inclined my head in the direction that Jane had led the party.

"_Innamorata_, you know I like it when you talk like that." He quickly continued when I gave him one of my death glares, "walk and talk?"

I nodded.

He winked at Gianna as we left the room sending her into a fit of giggles. "They're a coven of _Americano _vampires called the Cullens; the female is Alice, the male is Edward and the human is Isabella." He lowered his voice, "she is Edward's mate."

"His mate!" I practically yelled, luckily no one was in the hallway except the two of us.

"_Si_, his mate but, she is also his _la tua cantante_. Anyway he came to us while you were away, _mio cuore_, asking for death, Aro being Aro refused to end his existence so he decided to take matters into his own hands…" I was so engrossed by the story that I didn't realize where we were until I heard Aro's sing song voice.

"Dearest Logan, you've returned!" He cried alerting everyone to my arrival. He came forward to take my face in his hands and kiss me lightly on the lips.

"Hello, Aro. Everyone." I said politely.

"You've missed so much in your absence, my dear, and today has been such an exciting day! Wouldn't you agree Edward?"

"That's one way of putting it," was his short reply.

Aro frowned, "oh dear, with all this excitement I nearly forgot what you'd told me about Isabella." He held out one of his papery hands, "may I?"

"Ask _her,_" Edward said rudely.

"Of course, how rude of me!" Aro exclaimed. "Isabella," he addressed her directly, "I'm fascinated that you are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent—so very interesting that such a thing should occur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as to allow me to try—to see if you are an exception to me as well?" (A/N Direct quotation from the book)

My eyes flashed over to the human. She was utterly plain; turd brown eyes and a mound of messy matching hair. She wasn't a beauty; not one of her physical traits caught my eye. Clearly, Edward must have been drawn to her blood and not her looks.

The human looked at her mate before allowing Aro to touch her trembling hand. I watched Aro's face as it went from inviting to upset back to inviting.

"So very interesting," he said as he released her hand. "A first" he muttered to himself. "I wonder if she is immune to our other talents… Jane, dear?"

"No!" Edward snarled. The tiny vampire beside him—who was no more than an inch or so shorter than me—Alice ,grabbed his arm trying to restrain him but he quickly shook her off.

"Yes, Master?" Jane asked with her devilish smile.

Another loud snarl broke from Edward's throat while Felix—with a grin on his face—and I instinctively moved to stand closer to Aro.

Aro acted as if he hadn't heard anything, "I was wondering, my dear one, if Isabella is immune to _you_."

Edward continued to growl fiercely as Felix bent his head to whisper in my ear, "_Mio amore_, be prepared to attack."

"Don't!" Alice cried as soon as Edward left the ground and in a heartbeat he was back where he began withering in pain. _Idiot!_

"Stop!" the human shrieked, jumping forward to put herself between Edward and Jane. Like that would do any good. As if she could protect him from us!

We stood and watched as he suffered in silence and the human cried.

"Master." I whispered. The sadistic child did not look as if she was going to stop anytime soon.

"Jane," was the response to my unspoken request. Jane reluctantly turned her attention back to her initial target.

Nothing happened.

"Ha ha ha," Aro chuckled as Edward made his way back to his pet. "This is wonderful!"

Jane hissed in frustration, acting the age she looked.

"Don't be put out, dear one," Aro said, trying to comfort the sulking child, "she compounds us all."

I didn't miss the glare that Jane directed at the human.

"You're very brave, Edward to endure in silence. I asked Jane to do that to me once—just out of curiosity." Aro shook his head in admiration. "So what do we do with you… I don't suppose you've changed you're mind? Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company."

I felt Felix stiffen at my side but he relaxed when he heard Edward's response.

"No."

"Alice?" Aro continued.

"No, thank you." She answered very politely.

"And Bella?" At this my head whipped around so quickly that if I still had been human my neck would have snapped. Judging by the reactions all around the room I was not the only one who was taken by surprise.

"What!" Caius was the one that broke the silence before I could.

"Caius, surely you see potential in young Isabella," Aro chided him, "I haven't seen this much talent since we found our dear Logan." _Jude _I mentally corrected. Our masters and Jane were the only ones who called me by my hated first name. "With these two ladies by our side, well the possibilities seem endless."

My head snapped back the way it came when the human cleared her throat. "No, thank you."

Aro sighed, "That's unfortunate. Such a waste."

"Join us or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought into _this_ room. So much for your laws." Edward hissed.

I looked around the room we were in; the feeding chamber. His reaction was understandable but at the same time overdramatic.

"Of course not." Aro said in shock. In my opinion he was overacting just a tad. "We were already convened here, Edward, awaiting the lovely Heidi's return. Not for you… speaking of Heidi, Logan, be a dear and see what is taking your friend so long."

"Of course." I said turning to leave but before I could Felix grabbed my arm.

He quickly leaned forward so his lips brushed against my ear as he spoke, "hurry back." Then he slapped my bottom in dismissal. I had to all but bite my tongue so I could get out of the room without making even more of a scene.

I trudged back the way I had come thoroughly pissed off. Sure, Felix was hot as hell with his smoldering blood red eyes, muscular body, and slight Italian accent—however, that didn't give him permission to lay one finger on me let alone his whole freaking _hand_. Felix had always been flirty with the "young" female vampires—correction, he was flirty with females in general—especially me—but he never had the nerve to do so in the presence of our masters. The only reason why that vagabond was interested in me was because I was one of the few female members of the guard that he had yet to bed. I was nothing more than a mere quest to him and that just pissed me off even more. How dare he think so little of his female counterparts, how dare he—!

"What's wrong?"

I jumped at the voice. "Heidi," I breathed "don't sneak-up on me!"

"Sorry, Jude, I didn't mean to frighten you." She apologized coming forward to embrace me.

"Don't worry about it. Actually, I'm glad I found you, Aro was wondering where you were?" I told her once we parted.

"I just sent the meal down." She paused, "you never told me what's bothering you."

"Do you even have to ask, Felix" we said the last part in unison.

"Don't pay him any mind, let's go feed, it will make you feel better." She said brightly.

I nodded and followed her back to the feeding chambers where a chorus of screams had just begun.

* * *

"What now, Felix" I groaned when I heard two raps at my door. We had finished "dinner" a few hours ago and I still felt a little sluggish with all the new blood in my system. I looked up to see him standing in the doorway; his girth taking up the whole frame. He was no longer wearing his cloak, instead he was sporting a white cotton shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal his chiseled physique.

"I missed you at dinner, _bella_." His pet names for me were really starting to get under my skin.

"I was at dinner, but unlike you I decided not to make a pig of myself and only drank what I needed." I snapped.

Honestly, I had drank a little more then I needed but he didn't need to know that.

"Are you still mad about the little love tap I gave you?"

"If, by 'love tap' you're referring to the slap to my _ass_, then yes, I am still mad. _Bastardo!_"

"I love it when you speak Italian… it's so sexy, _mio amore, _especially with your accent." He purred as he made his way over to my bed.

I pouted; I thought I was doing a good job of hiding my accent.

"You're sexy when you pout too." He was now lying on the bed with me; his head was propped up with one of his hands while the other rested on my hip.

I knew where this conversation was headed so I changed the subject."So, what did I miss when I went to find Heidi?" I asked trying to distract him.

"Not much. Caius isn't pleased that the human knows what we are, he wanted to kill her, but Aro insisted we let them go." I understood why Caius wanted to dispose of the human; she knew more then any outsider should know. Vampires were not big on much but we were very big on secrecy.

"Too bad for us," Felix went on, "her blood was so _alluring... _and_ s_peaking of things that are alluring" Felix set his face into a look that I assume was supposed to be sexy, "where were we?"

"You" I touched the tip of his nose, "were about to tell me more about the Cullens. Why did Aro want them to join the guard so badly?"

"You know why he wanted the human, right?" He waited for me to nod before continuing, "well the two vampires are talented as well. The female can see the future and the male can read minds— without physical contact. If they had joined us, Aro would have both the present and the future in the palm of his hand. However, neither hold a candle to you, _mio caro_, you are too special for words." He leaned forward like he was going to kiss me.

"And what about their eye color…I've never seen eyes like that in all my years as a vampire. Before today at least." I couldn't get his—their golden orbs out of my mind.

"Well, _bella_, you haven't been a vampire for very long, I'm sure there is _a lot_ you haven't seen or… _experienced_." His hand trailed up from my hip to my collar bone as he spoke.

"Felix, you've been a vampire for a long time," I stated. "Dose that mean that you have seen…that you have experienced?"

This made him grin. "_Si_."

"_Quanto l'ha visto…ha sperimentato_?" I continued to question. (How much have you seen…experienced?)

"A lot."

"_No, nell'italiano_" I chided. (No, in Italian)

Our faces were a hair apart. "_Molto,_" he breathed.

"Do you know enough to tell me why their eyes took on such a strange hue?"

"Dammit, _mio amore_," Felix groaned, rolling onto his back and running his hand over his face. "Will we ever get to have just a _little_ bit of fun?"

I shrugged, a devilish smirk gracing my lips. This was fun to me, I loved making him sweat—not literally of couse.

"Fine, you win!" He pretended to wave a tiny flag, "I'll tell you. Their eyes are like that because they don't drink from humans."

I snorted, "rubbish."

"It's true, they drink from animals instead. Aro says there are at least thirteen of their kind in America."

"So…there's another way?" The idea that there was another way of survival had never occurred to me before.

"I guess, but who would…hey, where are you going I thought we were going to—" I slammed the door cutting him off. I didn't have time to waste on Felix, I had research to do.

* * *

"You've become such a bore, Jude" Heidi whined as she flopped on my bed, "you've been cooped up here doing research for days."

I had raided the Volturi's archives exactly three days ago. Between shifts I was reading every document they had on the Cullens and non-human drinking vampires in general. The Volturi kept detailed documents on all the vampires they came in contact with.

"Let's do something fun!" she went on, "let's go _fishing_."

I barely glanced up from the book I was reading. "I'm not really in the mood, but you go ahead love, have fun!"

She rolled her eyes, "don't I always."

"Bring me back a fat one!" I called after her as she left the room.

"Brains and beauty, how did I ever get so lucky."

"You haven't gotten lucky…isn't that the problem Felix?"

He didn't respond, instead he came to sit next to me on my bed and began twisting a lock of my deep brown—almost black—hair around his finger.

"What do you want Felix…other than me of course?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the page. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do once I'd gone through each document but, I knew it was going to be big.

"Ha ha ha," he chortled, "_bella_, you know me so well."

"You're very easy to read." I sighed, dropping yet another book to the ground and picking up another. This one wasn't quite as thick as the others, so it didn't take more than a few minutes to read. Written on the last page was the most important thing I'd read in the last three days: an address. I'd made my decision as I read the delicate script (most of the books written by our kind were written in by hand so only one copy would be produced).

"_Mio amore_, where are you going?" Felix asked when I suddenly hopped off the bed.

"Out!" I called over my shoulder as I grabbed my purse.

*****

I shook my head trying to clear my mind of the memories of my not so distant past as I got out of the rental car and made my way up the unfamiliar path towards the white mansion in the distance. My Jimmy Choos—not at all Forks friendly footwear, but gave me an extra five and a half inches of height—grazed the various puddles as I ran through the deep shade provided by the several cedar trees on the property and up the porch.

"We have company." I heard someone say, she must have heard me coming. Moments later the door was open revealing a man with blond hair. He was extremely handsome; the pictures that the Volturi had of Carlisle Cullen did not do him justice.

"Hello," he greeted, "how may I help you?"

Four other vampires were visible within the dwelling; their golden eyes were glued to my burgundy ones.

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**Well thats the end of the first chapter. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you on the fence? Oh and once more sorry if my Italian wasn't up to par. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask them.**

**In case there was any confusion, whenever Felix says "**_Bella"_ **(which means beautiful/ pretty in Italian)****and it's in italics he is referring to Jude, not Bella Swan.**

**One more thing, each chapter will be named after a song that composes up this stories play-list. This chapter is entitled "They" which is a song performed by Jem. (FYI I don't own it)**

**Cheers,**

**Fiction101**


	3. Chapter Two: Finally Woken

**_Disclaimer:_** **I Fiction 101 do not own the stories Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse or Breaking Dawn. They are all works of art and I appreciate them, but sadly I have no ownership rights to them.**

**I'd like to take some time to thank Lucas McDrake for being supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Oh, and a huge thank you to those who read the first chapter... and a bigger thank you to those who reviewed! **

_**Chapter Two: Finally Woken**_

_How may I help you?_ It was such a simple question; however, the same could not be said for the answer. Could he help me? More importantly would he _want_ to help me? I really hadn't put much thought into this. Then again, I never really put much thought into anything I did; I let my instincts be my guide. My approach to life usually worked for me but this situation was different. It was not like I was dealing with someone who worked for the Volturi—Carlisle did have a choice in the matter, he could reject me.

Rejection was such a foreign concept to me; I had never experienced it as a vampire and I vaguely remember going through it as a human. If I wanted to avoid it—which I did—I had to do this right. Choose my words very carefully. After all, this was not as simple as asking him to take in a stray puppy. _Oh God!_ That's exactly what I was: a stray.

I quickly brushed past them, entering their home without being invited; I figured the porch was not the best place to have this conversation. "May I come in?" By the time I asked I was already standing in the living room. _Oops._ "Uh…never mind," I muttered more to myself then to them, but I was positive they still heard me.

My eyes swept across the room, not really focusing on anything in particular. There were five of them: two other blonds along with Carlisle, and two brunets. Initially, I'd been quite surprised when I had read how many belonged to this coven, seven—a rare sight. Covens outside of the Volturi scarcely grew to that size. Most vampires were too selfish in nature to live with anyone besides their mate. They were all staring at me; waiting for my next move. The tension in the room was practically tangible.

Where to start, where to start? I wasn't sure how to go about this, coming from such a powerful clan I had never had to ask others for favours; it seemed beneath me. I had thought of at least one thousand ways to do this on the flight from Italy, but not one of them seemed quite right. Everything I had come up with made me seem like a bloody idiot.

"Damn, I wish Ed was here," the burly one—Emmett, I quickly corrected myself (I had learned all of their names through the various files I had read)—murmured through barely moving lips. "Then we'd know what the hell is going on."

"Hush!" Esme chided before turning her attention back to me, smiling politely. "Please have a seat Miss…"

"Ashby." I told her, taking a seat on the sofa.

"Ashby!" one of the younger blonds—Jasper—hissed causing me to jump back to my feet, readying myself for attack. "As in Logan Ashby of the Volturi guard."

So, they had heard of me. "Yes," I said slowly, gauging their reactions in the process, "that's correct. I am Logan Judith Ashby of the Volturi guard." Esme's smile fell as her eyes narrowed, Emmett crossed his arms over his broad chest, Jasper bared his teeth, and Rosalie hissed. The only one who seemed remotely clam was Carlisle. Save for the good doctor, they were acting as if I had just said every curse word known to man and flipped them the bird for good measure.

"What are your intentions here?" Carlisle questioned, his voice sounded cold. Clearly a member of the Volturi guard dropping by unannounced was not something they'd been looking forward to.

I placed a smile on my face acting as if I hadn't noticed. "Carlisle, I have a favour to ask of you," since he didn't verbally object I continued, "you see, I recently found out about your coven's…life style and I came here with the hopes that you would help me achieve a similar one."

He seemed sceptical, "Caius, or Aro didn't send you?" He had left my other master out for obvious reasons; Marcus didn't really say much so the thought of him ordering someone around was absurd.

"No, I came on my own."

"Bull!" Rosalie scoffed, "like the Volturi would let their little prodigy-puppet leave without a command."

I could tell that the Barbie and I would not be becoming best friends anytime soon. "Volterra, isn't some sort of prison, you know, the guard are free to go and come as they please. It's not as if we're held captive," I snapped. I wasn't lying, there weren't any chains or bondages, and most doors were not locked. We were physically able to go and come as we pleased…however, emotionally was another story. "Your maker is proof of that," I added before she could say anything. Technically, Carlisle was never a member of the guard, but I got my point across.

"Logan—" Carlisle began, picking up the conversation where he and I had left off.

"Please, call me Jude." To them it probably seemed as if I was making a friendly gesture by dropping the formalities and allowing them to address me by my nickname, but in reality I was trying to stop anyone from growing too accustomed to calling me by my hated first name.

"Jude," he amended, "making the switch to our diet isn't an easy one; it is something that many of us—some more than others—struggle with each day. Our life style takes patience, practice, and dedication; three things that can't be taken lightly. Are you sure you're ready to commit?"

I didn't hesitate to respond, "Yes." Jasper seemed surprised by the eagerness and confidence in my tone. I knew that giving up human blood would be hard; it had sustained me for so long and the pleasure that draining the last ounce of thick, warm, pulsating blood out of a human's bloodstream was the best thing in the world. Better than being intoxicated. Better than a first kiss. Hell, even better than sex—or so I've been told, I hadn't indulged in any human pleasures since, well since as far back as I can remember.

I didn't possess too many human memories, not many of my kind did. My years with the Volturi were pretty much the only life I'd known.

Carlisle nodded; he seemed to approve of my attitude. "I'm always happy to teach others mine and my family's way of life."

"Carlisle," Emse was eyeing me cautiously, "do you really think this is a good idea?"

It wasn't like I was a new born, I did have some restraint.

"She wants to change," Carlisle told her.

"Yes, I understand that… but can we," she lowered her voice, "can we trust her?"

Ah—so, it all came down to trust. It didn't bother her that I fed off humans it was the fact that I was a part of the guard, which in turn translated to me being untrustworthy.

"It's just," she went on to say, "with the situation with Bella, I'm not sure now is the best time—it's too risky."

Bella and Edward had been the talk amongst the guard for several days—in fact they probably still were. Human-vampire relationships were very taboo and scarcely heard of, they also never usually end well—for the human. The fact that Bella knew of our existence was breaking the most sacred law and enough reason to have her killed. By rights she _should_ have been dead—killed on sight, but Aro had seen potential. Thus she was spared.

Her freedom—I had later learned—came with a condition: she'd have to be turned before their next meeting. The Volturi had scheduled it for about twenty years from now, give or take a few. Vampires view time differently than humans; twenty years to us was the equivalent to two months passing to a human.

I decided that relaying the information to them may be what I needed to put me in Esme's good graces.

"Mrs. Cullen," I began, choosing the formal route, "if by 'the situation with Bella' you are referring to my Masters and the guard coming to check on her…status then I can assure you that _that _is not why I am here. In fact _that_ will not be happening for quite sometime. Twenty years to be exact."

"Really?" Carlisle asked.

"I haven't seen anything to prove otherwise." I heard her before I saw her—Alice, the petite vampire who had accompanied Edward and the human in Italy—the psychic. She entered the room carrying a school bag over her shoulder. "She's telling the truth."

Again the room stilled and nothing was said.

"Alice, are you sure?" Jasper asked breaking the silence.

She closed her eyes briefly before speaking—looking into the future I assumed, "yup, they aren't planning a visit anytime soon. Bella's safe for another twenty years—from the Volturi at least."

_From the Volturi at least_—what the hell did that mean?

"So," Emmett started to say, inclining his head in my direction, "she's not here as a representative for the Volturi?" Didn't I just tell them that?

"From what I've seen, no, she isn't." It was Alice who answered. "She's not a threat."

A threat to them, no—I was on my best behaviour—but back in Volterra I was somewhat of a legend. I was right up there with Jane and Alec. Very few members of the guard possessed the near black robes we sported and even fewer had the ability to leave at will like we did—the Volturi knew we'd always return. Where else could we get that kind of power? That kind of respect? It was addictive.

At Alice's words everyone seemed to relax a little. Key word, _little_.

Esme stood beside her husband, clasping and unclasping her hands with an anxious look, Jasper shifted his weight from foot to foot while Rosalie openly glared at me. The others were doing a better job of hiding their feelings, but not by much. Discomfort was definitely in the air. And so was Edward. I recognized his scent—clean and sharp with a trace of human—from our brief encounter in Italy. My foreign scent was probably just as potent to him.

He burst through the door and was in front of me before it could slam shut. Edward was tall and even in my Jimmy Choos I had to crane my neck up to meet his gaze. Under different circumstances—say, he wasn't looking at me with intense anger, nostrils flared and breathing raggedly—I'd consider him to be extremely attractive. Messy bronze hair, topaz eyes, lean body; all became irrelevant the moment his eyes met mine in a violent stare.

"You didn't see this!" His eyes briefly flicked in Alice's direction before returning to mine. "I thought you were watching them—watching to see when they'd send someone!"

"I am watching. I'm watching the _Volturi's _decisions, not their _guards_." Alice snapped.

It took him a few seconds to process what she had just said. "She wasn't sent?"

"No. She wasn't."

Edward bent down so he was eye level with me. "_Then what the hell are you doing here?_" he snarled. Before I could answer him his gaze went to Carlisle. "No! Absolutely not!"

"She wants to change, Edward."

"What about Bella's safety? Her being here could jeopardize that, she's one of _them_! Have you forgotten what the Volturi has planned for—"

"Your human isn't my main concern; she has nothing to do with my being here. And as for the Volturi, _they_ have no intentions of checking in for another twenty years," I interrupted. "If you don't believe me your coven member has confirmed it." My tone was surprisingly calm, especially for having someone an inch away from my face.

His topaz eyes swept over to Alice looking for confirmation. "She's telling the truth but, I'll keep checking for changes."

Edward gave a curt nod and once again he was looking at me but not speaking to me. "_Nothing_ to worry about, Carlisle?" he was reading Carlisle's mind. "You can't be serious!"

"Edward, you need to calm down." Carlisle crossed the room and placed a hand on Edward's shoulder, "Jasper."

Immediately the atmosphere of the room changed, Edward's breathing still remained laboured of course, but his glare softened—became peaceful even. He went back to standing at his full height and took a step back, putting some distance between us. "Her presence here may draw unwanted attention. What if someone comes looking for her and runs into Bella?" his voice still had an edge to it yet, it was no where near as surly.

_Demetri._

"Demetri," he agreed, echoing my thoughts.

Demetri: a skilled tracker—the best the Volturi had—and one of my mentors…until I surpassed him in combat skills, yet I still saw him as the definition of badass. You could run and you could hide but one way or another Demetri'd find you. However, I wasn't running nor was I hiding, there was no motive for Demetri to come here.

"Demetri would never track me," I informed. "He has no reason to."

"Doesn't _he_? You left. Isn't that reason enough?" I could tell Edward was no longer talking about Demetri; the _he_ that he was now referring to was Aro. "You're very special to him."

Edward was speaking the truth; I was special to Aro he had made it know many times. My mind flashed back to my fist week with the Volturi.

*****

"Perhaps she is not as wondrous as we thought Aro" Marcus said, his monotone voice reflected the boredom that I too was feeling.

"Yes Aro, your prodigy—and I use this term loosely—has yet to find her gift and she has been here for a week." Caius agreed while he gestured towards the chair I was seated in, his face a stone emotionless structure as he appraised me. "I do not believe she is gifted at all, no better than half of the lot that roam this place."

"How can you doubt her? How can you doubt me? Brothers, has she not proven herself time and time again? Her transformation was the shortest that any one of us has ever witnessed, she is surprisingly strong, even for a new born and she picks up on fighting tactics like that." Aro snapped his thin, long fingers to emphasize the speed. I had always been a fast learner; I could even remember skipping a few grades in school. Learning had always been my forte.

"Logan," Aro continued, walking forward and taking my small, smooth hand into his papery one, "are there any changes today?"

I opened my mouth to say no but when his grip on my hand tightened images flooded into my mind. Every thought Aro had ever had was open for me to see. I felt extremely uncomfortable when I got to the thoughts of me; apparently Aro was infatuated by me. I quickly pulled my hand free, clutching it to my chest. What had just happened? Wasn't what I had just done Aro's power?

I looked up to see Aro staring at me inquisitively. "Logan?" he asked.

A brazen smiled played on my lips as the pieces quickly fell into place. "Masters, I think I just found my special talent. I believe I can absorb other vampire's abilities," My smile grew when Caius's face contorted from his emotionless disposition to one of pure shock. "I just saw every thought that you have ever had." I said addressing only Aro.

"That is…" Aro paused searching for the right words. I mentally supplied all sorts of substitutes: _amazing, astonishing, groovy, __supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_. Coming up short Aro continued, "No language has created a word to describe you, and if what you say is true then you are a much larger asset to us then I could have hoped. The sheer power our coven could possess with you in the guard is mind-boggling. We will be unstoppable!" Aro beamed making the papery skin on his face wrinkle.

*****

I shook my head bringing myself back to the present. Yes, I was special to Aro but I was not bound to him. I'd always been free to go and come as I liked. My masters never disrespected that. I didn't _have_ to be _here_; I didn't _have_ to be _there_; I didn't _have_ to be _anywhere_. That was the beauty of free will. What gave Edward the right to act like he knew everything about the Volturi, the guard, and me? What gave him the right to be so judgemental towards us? It was pissing me off.

And for the first time since I arrived in Forks I let my temper get the best of me in true badass fashion. I snapped. "I _know_ that I'm special to my Masters, _you_ don't need to tell me that! I'm an absorber, remember." I growled. "You on the other hand haven't seen, or heard, or experienced half the shit that I have. Yeah, sure you've been in their heads for a few minutes, and she's seen a few things," I swept my hand in Alice's direction, "but, what the hell do you really know about the Volturi? I'll tell you; _nothing_. Abso-freaking-lutely _nothing_!" By the time I'd finished my rate I was now the one breathing heavily. I spun on my heels preparing to exit the way I'd come but was stopped by Emmett.

"You're right, we don't know anything." Somewhere to my right I heard a groan, "well it's true. We don't know anything but she does. Maybe…maybe you're looking at this the wrong way Ed."

Surprisingly, Edward didn't go off on another tangent about safety, or Bella; he didn't do anything. He seemed to be in thought—or reading someone else's. "I suppose you staying here could be beneficial or at the very least educational," he admitted begrudgingly. Apparently the idea of gaining something from my stay had never occurred to him. They needed me here and for some reason—that instinctual feeling that had brought me here—I wanted to stay.

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**This chapter was named after the song "Finally Woken" performed by Jem, I don't own it so don't sue.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Cheers, **

**Fiction101**


	4. Chapter Three: Uprising

**Disclaimer: I do not own the stories Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse or Breaking Dawn or the characters within them. I appreciate each book, but I have no ownership rights to them.**

**A/N I know, I know, it's been ages since I've written anything. There's no excuse unless you count school as one.**

**Anyways, I've always wanted to give Emmett a bigger part then what he had in the novels so here it goes; I hope I kept our bear loving friend in character. Can you guess to what movie Emmett went to see? (It's one of my favourites).**

**Also, I've created a community called "Chez Wolf"(if you've a read my latest story, "Shuffle, Ball, Change", you'll know where the name came from), it's a place to find stories about the amazing boys from La Push. If you're interested in becoming a part of the staff or if you have suggestions PM me.**

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**_Chapter Three: Uprising_**

Seven weeks, eighteen hours, forty-two minutes, and thirty-six seconds.

That was exactly how long I'd been living with the Cullens and that was also how long I had been deprived of fun. Carlisle had said that going the "vegetarian" route would take patience, practice, and dedication.

Not once had he mentioned _isolation_.

The good doctor had been quite adamant about the rules for me staying with them; the only time I was allowed to leave their _oh-so-lovely _abode was when I went hunting—with a chaperon of course. So those are the only places I'd been to since my arrival, the Cullen house to the hunting grounds and then back to the Cullen house.

Sadly, the hunting trips had become less frequent, "To increase the time you can go without feeding," were Carlisle's exact words, which in turn resulted in a lot of boredom on my part. I was beginning to feel more like a prisoner than a house guest.

The response to my staying had been lukewarm at best. I was almost one hundred percent sure that no one was dead set against it but it was clear that they were far from thrilled. The apprehension that the family felt towards me had not died down yet and the feeling was mutual. The only time I felt completely at ease was when I was with Emmett, the burly Cullen who had almost instantly taken a liking to me.

_Splat, splat, splat. _

It didn't help my boredom that it was always raining; the weather was unbelievably predictable here. Rain, rain and more rain; the perfect weather for a vampire and I couldn't even enjoy it. I sighed getting off the leather sofa and going to the wall sized window which I considered to be both a gift and a curse; the window allowed me to see my surroundings but not to experience them. I glared out the window and my reflection glared back at me, my lightly freckled nose was scrunched and my lips were set in a firm line. I ran my hand under my eyes examining the bruise like shadows, a sign that meant I needed to hunt. Luckily Emmett had promised to take me.

Too bad that was supposed to be two hours ago.

"Ugh" I groaned, flopping back onto the sofa with the side of my face pressed against the leather. My throat felt like it was on fire. _What's taking him so long? He said he'd be back before now._

"Knock, knock." Speak of the devil. I knew Emmett was smiling even though the door was closed, I could hear it in his voice. He didn't wait for my consent to enter the room—he never did.

"Emmett, how many times do I have to tell you, you're supposed to wait until I say 'you may enter' or some garbage like that before you barge in!" I scolded, now sitting up with my legs crossed underneath me.

"And how many times do I have to tell _you,_ you're supposed to say 'who's there?'" he chuckled. "So, what's eating you today?" I admired the way he could go from a lovable goof to serious in a heartbeat—not literally of course.

"The fear of going stir-crazy or at the very least being bored out of my mind," I shrugged. "You know the usual." I decided to change the subject. "So... how was the movie?"

He beamed as he took a seat on the sofa beside me, "Pretty good! The guys and I saw it twice; there was a ton of action."

"Action," I sighed. "Remind me what that's like again."

"Aw, come on Jude. You haven't been in lock down for that long."

"I haven't seen anything besides these bloody four walls and your ugly face for nearly two weeks." I held up two fingers to emphasize my point.

Emmett looked down at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'll have you know that some people find this face to be rather attractive."

"Really?" I examined his features for a few seconds. Of course, like most of our kind he was far from ugly. "Well, if I tilt my head to the left while squinting I may be able to see why your mother would say that."

He laughed his booming laugh, "You saying I got a face that only a mother could love?"

"If the mask fits, then wear it."

He laughed again, jostling the couch and me in the process. "Well, if you can stand my 'ugly' face for a little while longer I can take you hunting now."

I was out the door and waiting by his jeep before he finished his sentence. When Emmett strode out of the house Rosalie was following closely behind him. _Ugh_.

"Bye, baby" he whispered before he bent down to kiss her. "I'll be back later tonight. Love you."

"I love you too." I didn't miss the appraising look she gave me before she sauntered back into the white house.

"Jude, you ready?" he asked, turning to face me.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

A few hours passed of Emmett rapping to songs on the radio, and me blankly staring out the window, my mind wandering from place to place. Then, I actually acknowledged our surroundings. "Where are we going?" I questioned. The drive to the hunting grounds was taking an unusually long time and none of the scenery we sped past looked remotely familiar.

"Goat Rocks Wilderness," he replied, "I thought I'd treat you to some real game for a change." He winked at me, and then quickly turned his eyes back to the road as he rapped along with an unfamiliar hip-hop tune on the radio.

I couldn't fathom why Emmett was so genuinely nice to me. In my opinion it made no sense, I hadn't done anything to deserve it—not that I knew of anyway. Maybe I'd been really sweet in a past life.

"Why so serious?" Emmett asked when the song was finished; he had turned the radio down so we could have a better conversation.

"Serious and Jude are two words that don't belong together, mate." I chided in a mock stern tone. He rolled his eyes and waited patiently. "Fine. If you must know I was just thinking… Well, more like wondering. I was wondering why you are so nice to me when it's as plain as the freckles on my nose that your coven doesn't trust me."

"Carlisle let you move in so naturally he trusts you."

I shook my head. "No Emmett, Carlisle _respects_ me. Or, rather, he respects what I can do. Trust and respect are two very different things. Of course I'm grateful for the opportunity that all of you have provided me with no matter what the catalyst behind it is."

"Well for what it's worth I trust you."

"Sure you do," I scoffed.

Emmett continued to drive; the only sound in the car was the radio.

"Did you ever think I'm nice to you just because I'm a nice guy?"

I scoffed again.

He laughed once, his expression changing as he kept facing forward."You remind me of Gwen, that's why I'm so nice to you," he finally said. His usually buoyant tone had turned solemn; this was the first time Emmett actually seemed... _vulnerable_ to me.

"Gwen?" I probed hoping he'd continue.

"My cousin. You act just like her you know," a slight smile played on his lips. "Cocky, ignorant, and fun. You look a lot like her too, she was short—not as short as you but she was short. She had dark hair. Freckles... Hell, you even have the trademark McCarty dimples," he barked a laugh. "Gwen was the closest thing I had to a little sister; I guess that's why I'm nice to you, because I see her in you." He paused for a second, turning his head to look where he was driving. "She's pretty much the only thing from my human life that I remember thoroughly."

"Emmett," I paused searching for something to say but came up short, "I don't know what to say." I admitted.

"Well that's a first; Jude I-can't-shut-up Ashby speechless," he laughed again.

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly.

"We're here, little buddy." He informed me as he parked the jeep.

"Finally," I muttered under my breath fully aware of the fact that he had heard me perfectly.

Goat Rocks Wilderness was a breathtakingly beautiful even I had to admit it and I was definitelynot the outdoorsy type. The mountainous peaks were the first place that I wanted to explore and went as far as the eye could see. Every inch of terrain was covered in a sparkling layer of frost. The raging bodies of water had a thin sheet of ice on top but I could still hear the water rushing below. The wind was blowing fiercely which was surprising since it was late spring but did not detract from the beauty.

"Let's hunt!" Emmett declared just as I caught an appealing scent—as appealing as an animal can be, anyway.

Emmett raced off, going east; his feet demolishing the sheet of ice in the process of crossing the river. I decided to go south following the scent that had caught my attention. The frost covered evergreens tickled my bare legs as I leaped and bound my way towards my prey. I climbed the rock wall that was in the way in a matter of seconds.

The venom pooled in my mouth when I came face to face with a mountain goat and my instincts took over. I fell into a crouch, my lips curled above my teeth and pounced.

My hunting technique had improved since my first hunt; my clothing remained unsoiled by the earth and not a single strand of my onyx hair was out of place. They all remained neatly pulled back in the high ponytail I had placed them in save for my bangs which were pushed to the side of my face. I threw the mountain goat's carcass away from me and went to search for my next victim.

Hunting animals and hunting humans proved to be very different. I found humans to be easy prey. Very easy prey. Every aspect of our kind appealed to them drawing them in. Our scents. Our appearances. They never put up a fight or saw what was coming. Animals, on the other hand, were much more similar to our kind, they're very instinctual beings providing the 'thrill of the hunt' feeling that I had been missing since my rebirth.

The taste however was no comparison; human blood is far more alluring.

It took five more mountain goats to dull my thirst and I felt sluggish with all the animal blood in my system.

"So, you're a goat-girl." Emmett chuckled from behind me. He was surprisingly quiet for someone of his size.

Turning around to face him I shrugged, "What did you have?"

"Grizzly bears," Emmett grinned. "You ready to go? It's nearly sundown and I promised Rose we'd be back by tonight."

"Yeah, I guess…" I jumped to my feet in a sixteenth of a second and took off down the mountain the way I came. "I'll race you." I called over my shoulder.

Emmett was soon on my heels, so I darted west, jumping over a boulder in the process.

Nothing besides winning was on my mind until I smelt the most horrendous scent that I had ever had the displeasure of coming across in my entire existence. The smell burnt my nose resulting in me cutting off my air supply. I came to a rough stop practically colliding with the source of the revolting odour.

There in front of me stood a huge grey… creature. The creature was as large as a horse yet resembled a wolf. It bared its teeth at me and I quickly copied its stance getting into a crouch andbaring my own teeth. I felt a low growl building in my throat when the wolf took a step closer. It lunged at me without warning knocking me off my feet and onto my back. The creature dug its surprisingly white fangs into my right arm yanking until we both heard (and I felt) it snap. It chucked my appendage into the woods a couple of yards away.

Oh now it had done it; it had made me mad.

I swung my legs upward, my feet making contact with the creatures jaw. Judging by the satisfying crunch and the repulsive blood that spewed everywhere I knew that I'd successfully broken it.

The creature was backing away from me slowly whimpering as it did so. _Good, it's afraid of me._ I quickly flipped onto my feet preparing to charge, but before I could a larger rusty coloured creature—similar to the one I was facing—burst through the trees. The russet one skidded to a stop inches away from the now small grey one taking a protective stance in front of it.

I hissed. The rusty one growled. We were circling each other, neither of us breaking eye contact. Neither of us prepared to die just yet.

"Jude, where the hell did you…" Emmett trailed off as he entered the grove of trees, and absorbed the situation; processing it in milliseconds. "Dammnit! We're _not_ on you land!"

While the beasts were distracted by Emmett's appearance I took this as my chance. I dug my finger nails into the larger of the two swinging my small body under it gaining enough speed and strength to throw it into a tree.

"Jude!" Emmett yelled, "STOP!"

I wasn't listening. The grey one and I made eye contact briefly before I pounced on it my hand grasping tightly to its throat; attempting to snap its neck while the beast was trying to dig its teeth into my face.

"Tell her to stop!" I heard someone order.

"You call off your _mutts_ first, _dog_!" Emmett grunted back. I chanced a glance up to see Emmett had the rust coloured thing in a hold similar to the one I was doing on the grey one—of course his was more effective because he had size, and both arms as an advantage.

"_Leah! Jacob!_ _Enough!"_ was all the stranger had to say and the two beasts were rendered motionless. "_Now, call her off!"_

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**This Chapter is named after the song "Uprising" by Muse, I don't own it.**

**A/N Okay, so as I mentioned before it's been awhile so I'm probably out of practice. Hopefully this chapter was okay--well, I'd really like for it to be more than just okay.**


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